Skyrim:Serana

To meet our site's higher standard of quality, this article or section may require cleanup.The user who placed this here had the following concern:miscellaneous notes need to be merged into a real description, duplicated info needs to be cleaned up, dialogue needs to be standardizedTo leave a message about the cleanup for this article, please add it to this article's talk page.

Her main location during gameplay depends on which faction you ally yourself with—if siding with the Dawnguard, she can be found at Fort Dawnguard; if siding with the Volkihar vampires, she can be found at Volkihar Keep. After completing the Dawnguard main questline, she can normally be found at these same two locations, although you will occasionally randomly encounter her in the wilds of Skyrim, where she can be recruited to follow you again.

During the quest Chasing Echoes, she will offer to turn you into a Vampire Lord. After completing the quest Kindred Judgment, she can be asked to turn you into a Vampire Lord at any time. If you sided with the Dawnguard, while a Vampire Lord they will refuse any interactions with you, stating that you need to get cured immediately. This starts Rising at Dawn.

If you side with the Dawnguard, you can convince Serana to cure her vampirism after her father's death. This depends on selecting certain conversation options over the course of the questline.

After Serana brings her scroll to Fort Dawnguard, you ask her "Have you always been a vampire?" while she is a follower. During this conversation, if you ask her if she has ever thought about getting cured, she will refer to her condition as a gift, insisting that she will never seek a cure for it. Should she say this, you can still ask her to seek a cure after her father has been defeated, but she will refuse and then refuse to speak to you about it further should you ask again. If you wish for her to cure her vampirism after the main questline, choose the option "Are you all right?" rather than asking her about the cure.

Once you have defeated Harkon and left Volkihar Cathedral, if you are not a vampire yourself†, you can ask Serana if she's ever considered being cured. If you tell her that her vampirism makes you uncomfortable, she will criticize you for being self-centered and refuse to ever discuss the cure again. If you pick more tactful dialogue options, you can convince her to go see Falion. She will immediately leave, even if she is currently following you, saying that she needs to do this alone. Within a few days, she should show up at Fort Dawnguard as a normal human.

If Serana chooses to become human, she will no longer be able to provide you with bloodcursed arrows, nor will she be able to turn you into a vampire. Her eyes will also revert to her mortal green eyes. She will no longer be undead, which means that she can be healed by your Restoration healing spells, she won't be damaged by Restoration combat spells that target undead, and she appears with Detect Life instead of Detect Dead. Her combat spell usage remains the same; she continues to use a vampiric Drain Life attack along with her other attacks.

You can reverse the effects of your choices in conversation by typing the following into the console: SetPapyrusQuestVar DLC1NPCMentalModel ToldPlayerSheDidntWantCure_var False. You will now be able to convince her to get cured. If she still refuses to talk about being cured, type the following into the console: SetPapyrusQuestVar DLC1NPCMentalModel CutOffCureDiscussion_var False. You can force the quest to start by typing the following into the console: setstage DLC1SeranaCureSelfQuest 10. If the Serana cure quest should become stuck you can use setstage DLC1SeranaCureSelfQuest 100 to finish the quest after stage 10 and have Serana back, without her vampirism.

Serana: "Unh... where is... who sent you here?"Dragonborn: "A man named Isran."Serana: "I... don't know who that is. Is he... like me?"Dragonborn: "Are you a..."Serana: "Vampire, yes."Dragonborn: "Why were you locked away like this?"Serana: "That's... complicated. And I'm not totally sure if I can trust you. But if you want to know the whole story, help me get back to my family's home."Dragonborn: "Where do you need to go?"Serana: "My family used to live on an island to the west of Solitude. I would guess they still do. By the way... my name is Serana. Good to meet you.""

Serana: "Hey, so... before we go in there..."Dragonborn: "Are you all right?"Serana: "I think so. And thanks for asking."Serana: "I know your friends would probably want to kill everything in here. I'm hoping you can show some more control than that. Once we're inside, just keep quiet for a bit. Let me take the lead."

Serana: "You probably weren't expecting to see me again."Dragonborn: "What are you doing here?"Serana: "I'd rather not be here either, but I needed to talk to you. It's important, so please just listen before your friend, here, loses his patience. It's... well, it's about me. And the Elder Scroll that was buried with me."Dragonborn: "What about you?"Serana: "The reason I was down there... and why I had the Elder Scroll. It all comes back to my father. I'm guessing you figured this part out already, but my father's not exactly a good person. Even by vampire standards. He wasn't always like that, though. There was... a turn. He stumbled onto this obscure prophecy and just kind of lost himself in it."Dragonborn: "What do you mean... "lost himself"?"Serana: "He just became absorbed... obsessed. It was kind of sick, actually. The prophecy said that vampires would no longer need to fear the sun. For someone who fancied himself as vampire royalty, that's pretty seductive. Anyway, my mother and I didn't feel like inviting a war with all of Tamriel, so we tried to stop him. That's why I was sealed away with the Scroll."Dragonborn: "You took a big risk coming here."Serana: "I did. But something about you makes me think I can trust you. I hope I'm not wrong."Dragonborn: "No, you're right. We just have to convince the others you're on our side."Serana: "Well, let's move then. I'm nothing if not persuasive."

Serana: "Do you have a moment to talk?"Dragonborn: "What's on your mind?"Serana: "That Moth Priest, Dexion. He said we needed two other Elder Scrolls. I think I know where we can start looking."Dragonborn: "Why didn't you say something earlier?"Serana: "Half the people in your little crew would just as soon kill me as talk to me. That doesn't exactly make me want to open up. I got a warmer welcome from my father, and that's saying something."Dragonborn: "Does Harkon even care about you anymore?"Serana: "You know, I've asked myself the same thing. I thought... I hoped that if he saw me, he might feel something again. But I guess I don't really factor in at this point. I don't think he even sees me as his daughter anymore. I'm just... a means to an end."Dragonborn: "So where is this Elder Scroll?"Serana: "We need to find my mother, Valerica. She'll definitely know where it is, and if we're lucky, she actually has it herself."Dragonborn: "You said you didn't know where she went."Serana: "The last time I saw her, she said that she'd go somewhere safe... somewhere that my father would never search. Other than that, she wouldn't tell me anything. But the way she said it... "someplace he would never search." It was cryptic, yet she called attention to it."Dragonborn: "Maybe your mother didn't trust you, either."Serana: "That's always a possibility. She was almost as obsessed as my father by the time she shut me in. But I can't worry about that now. We need the scroll, and she's our only lead. Besides, I can't imagine a single place my father would avoid looking. And he's had all this time, too. Any ideas?"Dragonborn: "In Castle Volkihar?"Serana: "Wait... that almost makes sense! There's a courtyard in the castle. I used to help her tend a garden there. All of the ingredients for our potions came from there. She used to say that my father couldn't stand the place. Too... peaceful."Dragonborn: "Isn't that pretty risky, staying around the castle?"Serana: "Oh, absolutely. But my mother's not a coward. That is... I don't think we'll actually trip over her there. But it's worth a look."Dragonborn: "They aren't going to let us use the front door."Serana: "True. But I know a way we can get to the courtyard without arousing suspicion. There's an unused inlet on the northern side of the island that was used by the previous owners to bring supplies into the castle. An old escape tunnel from the castle exits there. I think that's our way in."Dragonborn: "Let's go to the castle's secret entrance."Serana: "It's around the side of the castle. Let's move."

Dragonborn: "Were you always a vampire?"Serana: "That's... a long story."Dragonborn: "I want to hear it."Serana: "I guess... we kind of have to go way back. To the very beginning. Do you know where vampirism came from?"Dragonborn: "I would guess it came from a daedric lord."Serana: "Exactly! The first vampire came from Molag Bal. She... was not a willing subject. But she was still the first. Molag Bal is a powerful daedric lord, and his will is made reality. For those willing to subjugate themselves, he will still bestow the gift, but they must be powerful in their own right before earning his trust."Dragonborn: "How did you actually become a vampire, then?"Serana: "The ceremony was... degrading. Let's not revisit that. But we all took part in it. Not really wholesome family activity, but I guess it's something you do when you give yourselves to a daedric lord."Dragonborn: "How has it affected your family?"Serana: "Well, you've met most of us. My father's not exactly the most stable, and eventually he drove my mother crazy with him. And it all ended with me being locked underground for who knows how long. It's definitely been a bad thing, on the whole."Dragonborn: "Are you all right?"Serana: "I will be. Just give me a little time./Don't... Just leave me alone for a bit."

Serana: "Then the rest is up to me. Are you ready to go? I'm not entirely sure what this thing is going to do when I add my blood."Dragonborn: "Can I ask you something first?"Serana: "Of course. What is it?"Dragonborn: "What will you do if we find your mother?"Serana: "I've been asking myself the same thing since we came back to the castle. She was so sure of what we did to my father, I couldn't help but go along with her. I never thought of the cost."Dragonborn: "I don't know what she was thinking."Serana: "Neither do I. She always seemed happy, before we heard the prophecy. Then it all changed. She became a different person. They both did."Dragonborn: "We won't know until we find her."Serana: "Yes... yes, you're right. I'm sorry. I just didn't expect anyone to care how I felt about her. Thank you. Are we ready then?"Dragonborn: "Let's get that portal open."Serana: "All right. Here goes."

Dragonborn: "Soul trap me. I won't feel right as a vampire."Serana: "Are you sure? I'm willing to do it, but you need to think it through. You'll remain mortal, but you'll find yourself weakened within the Soul Cairn."Dragonborn: "I'm ready."Serana: "I know this is difficult for you. I hope you trust me. I'd never do anything that could hurt you."Dragonborn: "I trust you completely."Serana: "Thank you. Let's not waste any more time then. I promise to make this as painless as possible. Hold still."

Valerica: "So how has it come to pass that a vampire hunter is in the company of my daughter? It pains me to think you'd travel with Serana under the guise of her protector in an effort to hunt me down."Dragonborn: "This is no ruse. I want to keep her safe."Valerica: "Coming from one who murders vampires as a trade, I find it hard to believe your intentions are noble. Serana has sacrificed everything to prevent Harkon from completing the prophecy. I would have expected her to explain that to you."Dragonborn: "That's why I'm here for the Elder Scroll."Valerica: "You think I'd have the audacity to place my own daughter in that tomb for the protection of her Elder Scroll alone? The scrolls are merely a means to an end. The key to the Tyranny of the Sun is Serana herself."Dragonborn: "What do you mean?"Valerica: "When I fled Castle Volkihar, I fled with two Elder Scrolls. The scroll I presume you found with Serana speaks of Auriel and his arcane weapon, Auriel's Bow. The second scroll declares that "The Blood of Coldharbour's Daughter will blind the eye of the Dragon.""Dragonborn: "How does Serana fit in?"Valerica: "Like myself, Serana was a human once. We were devout followers of Lord Molag Bal. Tradition dictates the females be offered to Molag Bal on his summoning day. Few survive the ordeal. Those that do emerge as a pure-blooded vampire. We call such confluences the "Daughters of Coldharbour.""Dragonborn: "The Tyranny of the Sun requires Serana's blood?"Valerica: "Now you're beginning to see why I wanted to protect Serana, and why I've kept the other Elder Scroll as far from her as possible."Dragonborn: "Are you saying Harkon means to kill her?"Valerica: "If Harkon obtained Auriel's Bow and Serana's blood was used to taint the weapon, the Tyranny of the Sun would be complete. In his eyes, she'd be dying for the good of all vampires."Dragonborn: "I would never allow that to happen."Valerica: "And how exactly do you plan on stopping him?"Dragonborn: "I'll kill Harkon."Valerica: "If you believe that, then you're a bigger fool than I originally suspected. Don't you think I weighed that option before I enacted my plans?"Dragonborn: "And Serana's opinion in this?"Valerica: "You care nothing for Serana or our plight. Whether or not you've become one of us in order to survive the Soul Cairn, you're still a vampire hunter at heart. You're here because we're abominations in your mind. Evil creatures that need to be destroyed."Dragonborn: "Serana believes in me, why won't you?"Valerica: "Serana?"

Serana and Valerica talk; then Valerica gives instructions for how to free her.

You must be human and have left Volkihar Cathedral for this conversation to be available.

Dragonborn: "Have you thought about getting cured of vampirism?"Serana: "No... why?"Dragonborn: "Look what it did to your family."Serana: "Even before that, we weren't the most normal family. We did worship a daedra, remember?"Dragonborn: "If you want to cure yourself, I'll support you."Serana: "I'll speak to Falion. I've heard he knows about these things. I'm going to go away for a while. I'll meet you back home when I'm done."Dragonborn: "Good luck."Serana: "I'll see you soon."

During the quest Chasing Echoes[verification needed — see talk page], you can ask Serana to marry you. However, she will refuse indefinitely, stating that even walking near a temple scares her. Despite this, she will follow you into any of the temples during normal travel. She will not marry you even if she has been cured of vampirism.

If Serana is a follower and you have lycanthropy, corpses she has reanimated can still be killed and fed on before they vanish completely. Bloodlust will still be extended and perk progress will still be made.

While following you, Serana interacts with most activators, which sometimes results in odd behavior. She tends to use any nearby crafting apparatus, she will sit in most chairs on her own or even on the floor, mine ore veins, eat food, dance, drink, and clap for bards at taverns.

When indoors, Serana's resurrection spell is able to penetrate walls and revive dead bodies you cannot see.

Even after you finish the Dawnguard main questline, Serana remains an essential character and can never be killed. This can make her a very valuable follower, as she is already quite powerful.

If Serana is cured of her vampirism, she will still wear her hood outside, and still complain about the weather.

When Serana is initially rescued, she will join you in addition to whatever follower you currently have. However, during the quests Chasing Echoes and Beyond Death, she will replace any follower you currently have active, and will be unable to be dismissed until those quests are over, though the option to do so is present.

If you're a normal vampire, Serana will still be willing to turn you into a Volkihar vampire. However, she will not offer to do so during the quest Chasing Echoes.

If you are already a vampire before meeting her at Dimhollow Crypt, she will have a different dialogue with you and ask why a vampire like you doesn't know about her father.

If you kill an undead creature with Dawnbreaker while Serana is nearby, she may turn invisible.[verification needed — see talk page]

If she is wearing her default armor, she will automatically take her hood on and off depending on where she is. If she is given new armor to wear, then she will not automatically go back and forth, but will constantly wear her hood if she had it on when she was given the new armor, unless she is given a helmet. The only armor that matters is her Vampire Royal Armor, if she is given new boots or gauntlets to wear but still has the Vampire Royal Armor she will continue to take her hood on and off.

If she is given tempered Vampire Royal Armor her displayed inventory for trading will not show it being worn however her DamageResist value in the console will increase by the tempered amount.

During the quest Bloodline she will refuse to take any orders from you as well as trade items with you. The dialogue options are there but she will refuse to do so.

When Serana is your follower, she may not return to a walking position after sneaking.

Going to the sneaking position yourself, then changing instance (fast-traveling or changing zones), then going back to the walking position may cure this, at least until the next time she gets stuck in sneaking position. If that doesn't work, you can order her to perform an action on an object, forcing her to switch her animation.

Disabling and re-enabling her with the console also fixes this.

Serana may get stuck in combat after her target has died. Entering combat again fixes this only as long as the combat persists.

To bring back the "Come with me" dialogue after dismissing Serana, enter the code sqv DLC1NPCMentalModel in the console. You are given a long list of information. Scroll down the list using the up and down arrows, and make sure that the following codes: CanFollow_var = True / IsFollowing_var = True / IsWaiting_var = True / TurnOffComeWithMe_var = False / LockedIn_var = False are in order by looking at the false/true (i.e., if LockedIn_var was set to true then you need to put it to false). To do this, enter the following command: setpqv DLC1NPCMentalModel LockedIn_var False. Once you do this you should be able to recruit Serana to be your follower again.

To get Serana following again after asking her to "Wait", go somewhere far away (like inside Fort Dawnguard) and wait three to five days.

Even after completing Touching the Sky, Serana will sometimes say that she will meet you at Darkfall Cave when dismissed as a follower, though she will never go there.

Sometimes after completing the main questline for Dawnguard, while visiting a specific place (like Volkihar Courtyard), she will appear out of nowhere and act as if she were your follower even if she wasn't beforehand. If you dismiss her, however, you will never be able to recruit her again as the option "Come with me" will not appear.

If you have both a dog follower and a humanoid follower when entering the cell to kill Harkon, she will continue to follow you in addition to your other two followers after you've completed the quest. This effectively allows you to have two humanoid followers and a dog. You can dismiss the humanoid follower and acquire another while still keeping Serana as a follower. ?

Unlike other followers, the option "I need you to do something." does not appear while conversing with her as a follower. You will need to press and hold E () or A () in order to issue commands to pick up, sleep, attack, etc.

When you convince Serana to get cured of her vampirism and meet you back at Fort Dawnguard, after the short talk about being cured, she may only reply to dialogue options with "What do you need?" and "Yes?", making it impossible to take her as a follower again.

Sometimes when Serana is your follower, you will acquire 'vampire skills' and yet not be a vampire (Champion of the Night, Nightstalker's Footsteps and Weakness to Fire).

To remedy this effect, get infected with vampirism. Then, after telling Serana to wait somewhere, proceed with the quest to cure it.

This is often a result of having been hit by her Drain Life attack while engaging in close combat with an enemy, or simply from being between her and the enemy when she attacks it. Wearing a Necklace of Disease Immunity seems to prevent this bug from happening.

If you bring Serana back to Dimhollow Cavern, she may become totally immune to any attacks.

Advance the primary questline of the College of Winterhold. The issue will be fixed when Quaranir freezes time.

Highlight Serana in the console and type setghost 0.

Sometimes when Serana wears her hood outdoors, the game creates a new copy of the hood for her to wear, which will eventually fill up her inventory with a number of identical hoods.

You can temporarily fix this by opening the console, clicking on Serana, and then typing removeitem xx00E6A0 #, where xx is the code for the Dawnguard DLC (probably 02 or 03) and # is the number of hoods she has (which can be found out by typing showinventory and checking how many she has). Unfortunately, the game will start adding new hoods after that, necessitating using this fix again.

While Serana is your follower if you use Vampiric Drain as a Vampire Lord the spell's damage decreases dramatically. This is the result of a condition on the Damage Health effect of the spell; if Serana is following you, the Damage Health effect will be reduced to zero points for all levels of the spell and only the Drain Health, Magicka, and Stamina will take effect.

After the explosion of Eye of Magnus in College of Winterhold, Serana may disappear. ?

She returns to you when you enter Ancestor Glade during the Unseen Visions quest.

Talking through Serana's dialogue tree in the Soul Cairn may cause her to stay in one place instead of following you, as if you had ordered her to wait (which you cannot do in the Soul Cairn).